The present invention relates to the field of devices and apparatus for holding writing or drawing materials.
Children love to draw, write, and doodle using crayons, chalk, and other writing instruments. This activity is not only enjoyable, but it plays an important role in a child""s development. Children are able to express themselves, interact with other children, and learn by writing and drawing.
Children have some limitations in their ability to use certain writing instruments. For example, many children have small hands that are unable to effectively grip small diameter writing instruments. For example, chalk and crayons are approximately 0.25 to 0.35 inches in diameter. It can be very awkward for a child with small hands to use these writing instruments.
Further, many writing instruments used by children are relatively fragile. As a result, children frequently break chalk or crayons. This is inefficient and wasteful.
Most writing instruments used by children can be relatively messy. Some parents, for example, discourage children from using crayons or chalk in rooms or situations where the parent cannot easily clean up the mess. It would be desirable to provide a device that reduces the mess created by the use of these writing instruments.
Older individuals, such as people suffering from arthritis or other physical impairments, suffer from the same difficulties in the use of writing instruments. It would be desirable to provide a holder for writing instruments which overcame these problems.
A number of holders for writing instruments have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,151,933 (Fleming), U.S. Pat. No. 2,205,907 (Oxley), U.S. Pat. No. 2,870,740 (Vogt), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,092 (Boyer), all described holders for writing instruments which rely on friction to hold the writing instrument in the holder. Unfortunately, each of these holders suffer in that it can be difficult and awkward, especially for a young child, to force a crayon or piece of chalk into the holder. These holders are also undesirable because they tend to break crayon or chalk when installed into the holder. It is difficult and messy to remove these small broken pieces from the holders.
Other holders have also been described. For example, U.S. Patent Nos. 1,861,466 (Bafetti), U.S. Pat. No. 2,591,831 (Knuff), U.S. Pat. No. 2,762,336 (Estes), U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,146 (Tabachnik), U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,989 (Stageman), Re 34,194 (Stowell et al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,738 (Pearce), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,381 (Muelver) all describe holders for writing instruments which require complex and expensive machining or assembly. Further, some of these holders include small or moving parts that can be dangerous to a small child. Some of these holders are relatively difficult to operate making them unsuitable for small children.
It would be desirable to provide a holder for writing instruments which is inexpensively manufactured, easily assembled, and safe for children or other individuals. Preferably, the holder is easily used, keeps the user clean, and provides a good surface for grasping by individuals who have a difficult time holding small objects.
Embodiments of the present invention provide an improved holding device for holding writing instruments.
In one embodiment, a holder for a writing instrument has a body portion with an interior cross section larger than an exterior cross section of the writing instrument. A top portion is also provided which includes at least one flexible holding portion adapted to securely hold the writing instrument within the body portion. In one embodiment, the top portion is detachably mounted to the body portion. In another embodiment, the top portion is fixedly attached to the body portion in a manner that allows access to the interior of the holding portion, e.g., for cleaning of the holding portion.
In one preferred embodiment, the body portion is an elongated cylinder closed on one end and open on the other. The body portion may be made of a transparent, easily formed material such as a plastic. The top portion may also be formed of plastic. The flexible holding portion may be formed of plastic or an elastomeric material that provides a firm grip for an inserted writing instrument.
With these and other advantages and features of the invention that will become hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention may be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, the appended claims and to the several drawings attached herein.